The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • 2

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 26 1997 2 NEWS IN BRIEF 9 back at work after threat passes longer exists We are absolutely confident it is appropriate for us to return our products" Mr Roberta expressed hope that public confidence in Arnotrs would not be affected: have had magnificent support from the public and I am hopeful that will continue" He said no products withdrawn from stores would be returned and $00 truckloads of biscuits had been destroyed Mr Roberts said tamper- proof packaging was a "progres- sive and would not be introduced immediately Hie Federal Attorney- General Mr William told Parliament he would raise die need for tougher penalties for extortion with his State and Territory counterparts Hie extortionists said in a Iw several people nary 3 that Rodney Thomas was innocent of die 1991 murders of Peter Wade and Maureen Ambrose on the Gold Coast Thomas who is serving two life sentences for die murders issued a statement last week calling on the extortionists to withdraw their threat The head of die joint Queena-land-NSW task force Detective Superintendent Ron Pickering Im IwMnii to dneat over was based on intelligence told the stock grahanga that the decision to resume sales was based on advice from police and its own risk-management consultants At press conference hi Brisbane the campanyk chief executive Mr Chris Roberts declined to say whether the company was specifically insured for losses from extortion threats Union sources said die company would be asked this week to explain whether insurance would cover die wages of winkers stood down Mr Roberts rejected sugget-tions that public health couMsdn be at risk because die extortionists tuft been wngh safety has guided our actions over the last few weeks and equally guides our decision he said decision is based on all die evidence available to us The police asressmmt is absolutely dear and that is that the threat no By SUES ROBERTS Amotft bfocnlts will again be on ak in NSW and Queensland stores this morning after die extortion threat was declared to have been withdrawn Workers resumed normal shifts last nigfat at biscuit factories in Brisbane and Sydney and 300 casual staff who had been stood down have been re-employed In a statement to die Australian Stock Exchange said it had lost about $10 million after anticipated insurance payouts Neither die company nor pofioe would five details of advice supporting their decisions to consider the direst over Amotfi announced it would withdraw products from Queensland and NSW stores on Febru-aty 14 when it was revealed mtnrtiniiWi tiH threatened to poison diem unless four NSW police who gave evidence at a murder trim were forced to imihn lif detector Police said they considered the threat over after the extortionists failed to respond by a deadline of midnight on Monday a limit police set last week Dying negligence claim settled by lawyers By JENNIE CURTIN A young Sydney woman who is dying of caacer settled her negligence suit against three doctors and two pathology laboratories yesterday and earned the praise of the judge who heard her ease Mrs Nicole Smith who had already speat nearly a day giving evidence said she was very glad the Htiganon had finished so quickly Justice Alan Abadee said: "I should observe that 1 would regard her as mm of the bravest and most courageous litigants that 1 have encountered hi a Mrs Smith had claimed that a mole which was removed from her back in 1991 was given the all-dear in a pathology report although there had been a second opinioH that it was a melanoma She also claimed that a lump under her right arm which she noticed in 1995 was incorrectly diagnosed as lymphoma As a result she endured 18 months of inappropriate treatment including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant The melanoma has spread and she has been given only months to Hve The case was expected to last for np to seven days but when it was due to resume yesterday morning the lawyers asked for an adjournment By 2 pm they returned to announce that the matter had been settled The terms were not disclosed and no admissions of liability were made Justice Abadee congratulated the parties for resolving the matter Then in an emotional and highly unusual move which he said was sparked by the circumstances" he pubBciy praised Mrs Smith am absolutely certaia that everyone who had heard her matter-of-fact evidence would readily conclude that there was on her part a stoical understatement or her grieL her experiences her priq suffering and He described her as a impressive" witness Smith yon leave today with the highest respect admiration and good wishes of all who have seen and beard you in the courtroom" the judge said While many in the public gallery held back tears Mrs Smith shyly smiled aad said "thank to the judge Outside the court her barrister Mr Stephen Walmsley said he had never heard any Judge make comments like Justice Abadee's but felt they were "very heartfelt and He said the settlement of the case was a "great relief" to Mrs Smith and her family Mrs Smith and her daughter Ashleigh 3 moved in with her parents after her illness progressed and her marriage broke up Her father who retired from his job to help care for her was in court yesterday Flume danger Mobile phone users have been warned to switch off their phones before entering petrol stations or risk an explosion The telecommunications authority AUSTEL says electromagnetic fields given off by mobile phones could ignite petrol fumes GG in protest University students tried to drown out the Governor-General Sir William Deane as he spoke at die opening of a new campus in Adelaide yesterday Sir William was speaking at the opening of die University of South Australia's $57' million City West Campus which the students said was built at the expense of other campuses Trains collide Five people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after a train accident near Mittagong station yesterday A two-camage passenger train hit a freight tram about 100 metres north of Mittagong railway station Both were moving slowly Body in car park The body of a middle-aged Asian woman found in a shopping centre car park at Padstow yesterday showed no indications of foul play but police are treating the death as suspicious Waste at sea The New Zealand Environment Minister told Parliament in Wellington that the British-flaggea ship Pacific Teal carrying veiy high level radioactive waste from France to Japan was some 650 kilometres due east of Sydney yesterday $50000 reward Victoria Police have offered a $50000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the killer of Clare Morrison 13 whose body was found at Bells Beach in December 1992 DrR Singh The Herald on February 5 in its report of proceedings in which a woman is auiqg her gynaecologist and a Cabramatta GP incorrectly identified the GP as Dr RP Singh The proceedings have no connection with Dr Ram Pal Singh who practises at Fairfield The Htndd regrets die error Oz Lotto Winning numbers: 33 4 21 29 40 24 Supps: 35 9 Swim ban on oyster lake By ANTHONY HOY Wallis Lake was yesterday declared a non-swimming zone a move that could have a disastrous impact on die $110 mQlioa--year Great Lakes tourist industry The Minister for the Environment Ms Allan said: have instructed the Environ there are a bed: of a lot of Slater and Gordon is investigating die potential liability under die Trade Practices Act and common law of Wallis Lake oyster fanners retailers the NSW Department of Land' and Water Conservation die Great Lakes Council and the Environment Protection Authority Mr Grech said "There is a whole range of potential parties who may have had some involvement in die "We believe that even if our client makes a full recovery he will be entitled to damages of tens of thousands of dollars hundreds of thousands of dollars if he does not recover of die outbreak of hepatitis A have targeted sewage discharge into the 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